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 | Biography |  |
Associate Professor Wolvetang investigates the properties of the most primitive cells in the human body. These cells have the ability to grow indefinitely and turn into every cell type of the human body. Because of these remarakable properties human embryonic stem cells have attracted great interest as a tool for regenerative medicine At the start of 2008 Dr Wolvetang was appointed Associate Professor at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in the University of Queensland where he now leads the stem cell engineering group. Prior to that he was head of the Basic Human Embryonic Stem Cell Biology Laboratory at the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC) as well as Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Monash University. Before joining the ASCC, he was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the laboratory of Professor Paul Hertzog (1997-2003), at the Centre for Early Human Development in the Institute for Reproduction and Development. During this time he utilized in vitro model systems as well as genetic approaches using transgenic mice and gene knock-out technology, to demonstrate that the transcription factors ETS2 plays a role in immune cell destruction, neuronal apoptosis and transcriptional regulation of the amyloid precursor gene. Dr Wolvetang was then appointed as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level B in the Centre for Early Human Development in the laboratory of Associate Professor Martin Pera (2003-2006) at the Institute for Reproduction and Development Monash University. During this period he investigated the role of signalling/gene regulation pathways in the control of growth, differentiation and apoptosis of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) by using retroviral transduction of shRNA’s and cDNAs. This work culminated in a recent first authored publication in Nature Biotechnology, describing for the first time the relationship between the expression of CD30, apoptosis and genetic instability in hESC. He has submitted three recent provisional patents and is developing new stem cell media in collaboration with Pharmaceutical Partners. At present Associate Professor Wolvetang investigates fundamental biological processes of human Embryonic Stem Cells, induced pluripotent cells and the development of hESC bioreactors.
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